Article of repose for supporting the body of a person



A. LORENZ May 15, 1956 ARTICLE OF REPOSE FOR SUPPORTING THE BODY OF A PERSON Filed Oct. 22, 1952 INVENTOR FINTON LORENZ BY Z ATTORNEY United States Patent ARTICLE OF REPOSE FOR SUPPORTING THE BODY OF A PERSON This invention relates to articles of furniture and more particularly to articles of furniture wherein a back-rest and seat swingably mounted on a support are movable links of a link system including a controlling member swingably mounted on said support and controlled by movements of the back-rest.

It is an object of the invention to provide a controllink mechanism for a leg-rest swingably mounted on the front portion of a seat of an article of furniture of above described type, said controlling mechanism causing a comparatively great initial speed of the leg-rest when the movable members of the chair are moved from the sitting position into a reclined position.

Another object of the invention is to improve on the construction of articles of furniture as now customarily made.

Other objects and structural details of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a chair according to the invention, a portion of a side frame being broken away.

Referring now to Fig. l, generally indicates a support comprising side frames 12 and 14 connected with each other by a cross bar 16.

A back-seat 18 is swingably mounted on the support 10 at 20. The rear portion of a seat 22 is swingably mounted on the support 10 at 24. A controlling member 26 in the shape of a double-armed lever is swingably mounted on a lug of the support 10 at 28. The rear end of a first connecting link 30 is pivoted to the back-rest 18 at 32. The front end of said connecting link 38 is pivoted to the upper arm 34 of the controlling member 26 at 35. The lower end of a second connecting link 36 is pivoted at 38 to the lower arm 40 of the controlling member 26. The upper end of said second connecting link 36 is pivoted to the seat 22 at 42.

A leg-rest 44 swingably mounted on the front portion of the seat 22 at 46 is in pivotal connection with a controlling link 48 at 50. Said controlling link 48 in turn is pivoted to the lower end of a controlling arm 52 at 54. The upper end of said controlling arm 52 is pivoted to the second connecting link 36 at 56. One end of a controlling bar 58 is pivoted to said controlling arm 52 at 60. The other end of said controlling bar 58 is pivoted to the lower arm 40 of the controlling member 26 at 62.

The sitting position of the movable members of the chair is limited by a stop 64 arranged on the support 10 for abutting engagement with the lower surface of the seat 22. The extreme reclined position of the movable members of the chair shown in dash and dot lines is limited by a stop 66 arranged on the support 10 for abutting engagement with the back-rest 18. During the movement of the movable members of the chair from the sitting position into the reclined position, the leg-rest 44 is swung forwardly and upwardly in such a way that it reaches an elevated position when the back-rest and seat are only slightly inclined. This feature is obtained by the arrangement of above described controlling mechanism 48, 52, 58, for the leg-rest 44.

The pivotal connection 54 between the controlling link 48 and the controlling arm 52 as Well as the pivotal connection 60 between the controlling arm 52 and the controlling bar 58 may be adjusted by the arrangement of series of holes capable of selective engagement with the pivots.

If desired, the chair shown in the drawing may be equipped with locking means for holding the movabl members of the chair in any desired position. a

I have described preferred embodiments of my invention, but it is understood that this disclosure is for the purpose of illustration and that various omissions or changes in shape, proportion and arrangement of parts, as Well as the substitution of equivalent elements for those herein shown and described may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

For example, while according to the chair shown in the drawing the controlling bar 58, is connected with the controlling members 26, said controlling bars could also be pivoted with a downward extension of the back-rest.

Furthermore, the pivoted connections of the seat and back-rest with the support could be'arranged in coaxial alignment with each other instead of at spaced points as shown in the drawing.

What I claim is:

1. An article of repose for supporting the body of a person, comprising in combination: a support, a back-restmember swingable on said support, a seat, the rear portion of said seat being swingable on said support, a doublearmed controlling member swingably mounted on said support, a first connecting link pivoted at one of its ends to the structure of said back-restmember and at itsother end to one arm of said controlling member, a second connecting link pivoted at one of its ends to the other arm said controlling member and at its other end to said seat, a leg-rest swingably mounted on the front portion of said seat, a controlling arm pivoted to said second connecting link, a controlling bar pivoted at one of its end portions to said controlling arm and at its other end portion to said other arm of said controlling member, and means interposed between said controlling arm and said leg-rest for effecting movement of the later in coordination with said controlling arm.

2. In an article of repose as claimed in claim 1, said controlling arm being pivoted to said second connecting link at a point located between the pivotal connection of the latter with the seat and the pivotal connection of said connecting link with the controlling member.

3. In an article of repose as claimed in claim 1, said means between said controlling arm and leg-rest including a link pivoted to said controlling arm and to said leg-rest.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 628,700 Dann July 11, 1899 2,575,881 Lorenz Nov. 20, 1951 2,579,502 Lorenz Dec. 25, 1951 2,612,937 Lorenz Oct. 7, 1952 2,615,498 Lorenz Oct. 28, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 220,033 Germany Mar. 14, 1910 

